NEW Source, Issue 8, April 1992 Page: 2
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2 NEWS urce
April 1992
I never got into meditation until some friends confided in me that they were religious about It.
'"What's the big deal?", I thought. It's nothing to be ashamed of; I just don't have any desire to sit cross-
legged and hum like an electric razor for hours at a time. But my ideas about meditation were antiquated
and uninformed, to say the least.
First of all, you don't have to cross your legs. (Thank God. I'd pop my old hips out of Joint for
sure.) Your body position is immaterial, although the "lotus" position is what traditional Eastern
meditation types employ --- something to do with the purity of the soul, I think. And you don't have to
hold your hands upside down with your thumbs touching your forefingers like they do in the movies
either. That's a yoga thing.
The main thing about meditation is that it is time for you. You can do it whenever you want,
however you want, and as often as you want. Once in a while you have to
take time out --- to recharge. We move so fast these days, and we forget
R o n 'sthat we're not robots and that we have needs. We feed our bodies
everyday, and our minds and spirits have to be fed too.
I have a friend who is a courier for a medical company. She drives
O hundreds of miles everyday. When I first found out what she did for a
living I yelled at her in horror: "How can you stand being alone and in a
car for all those hours everyday?i" 'That's my think time," she said. What
a concept. Someone who enjoys being alone? I couldn't grasp it until I
started thinking about how centered and stable she was compared to me.
I stayed so busy that "think time" seemed like an unnecessary indulgence. Now I see that it is, in fact,
necessary, and that to be in touch with someone else you must at least know yourself.
I have a tree. This tree was in a national park or somewhere like that when I went on vacation
with my family years and years ago. I was only a kid, but I remember that summer. Everyone was there
and we were doing things you do on vacation: fishing, climbing hills, skipping stones, and all that. I felt
secure enough to wander away, Just because I wanted to be alone. It was cool that day, and I got to this
clearing and sat for a long time by myself, thinking about how nice it was to be wherever we were. Then I
looked up and there was this tree. It was leaning to one side like it was sad, but I looked closer, and it
started to look old instead of sad, dignified instead of decayed.
When I am by myself now, many times I will remember that tree and the way I felt that day, and
then I can relax. When it comes right down to it, I don't care what happens with my body. I have
thoughts like my tree that are mine, truly mine, in a permanent sense. Nothing that any person or any
virus does can change that. Meditation is alright.
Best of health --
Ronald D. Woodroof
Founder
NEWSource is headquartered at 3102 Swiss Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75204. Phone 214/826-7455, Fax
214/826-5242.
The information provided herein is Intended to supplement the member's awareness of alternative protocols
being practiced by other PWAs and is not intended to substitute for the advice and recommendations of a licensed,
practicing physician.
All contents copyrighted (c) 1992 by NEWSource
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Dallas Buyer's Club. NEW Source, Issue 8, April 1992, periodical, April 1992; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc271485/m1/2/: accessed June 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.